Tuesday, June 4, 2019

Tuesday of the Seventh Week of Easter

(Acts 20:17-27; John 17:1-11a)

The old priest died the other day.  After being last seen resting, he was found on the floor without life signs.  Some say that he had the best death possible – without suffering or myriad hospital procedures.  But this point is debatable. Both readings today show another way to die.

Paul feels compelled by the Spirit to return to Jerusalem.  He senses that his end is near.  On the journey he stops at the port of Miletus and sends for the church workers in Ephesus to meet him.  Then he begins his farewell address.  In today’s reading he reviews his ministry on behalf of Christ.  In tomorrow’s he will give the ministers advice regarding how to care for the people.  In both readings his care for them is evident.

In the gospel Jesus has been proclaiming his love and instructing for his disciples throughout the long final discourse.  Today he begins the conclusion of his remarks with a prayer to God the Father. He calls the disciples “the ones…given me” as a way of indicating his affection.  He also directly prays for them.

No one can enjoy suffering.  But we should not always run from it.  Through suffering we can draw closer to Jesus on the cross.  It even allows us to share in his work of redemption.  Suffering in the dying process may also afford us opportunity to confirm our love for those who mean the most to us.  Like both Paul and Jesus we want to take full advantage of it.

Homilette for Tuesday, May 6, 2008

Tuesday of the Seventh Week of Easter

(John 17:1-11)

A celebrated painting by the Renaissance master Ghirlandaio shows a boy embracing his grandfather. The old man has a bulbous, deformed nose that might elicit repulsion. But the lad gazes at him with affection. The grandfather also looks on his descendent with love. The title of this painting is simply “An Old Man and His Grandson.” But we might also call it, “A Picture of Eternal Life.”

In his encyclical on hope Pope Benedict mentions that we do not have an adequate idea of eternal life. As a matter of fact, the pope indicates, the term may confuse people who think of eternal as interminable and life as trouble. He suggests that we think of eternal life as “...the supreme moment of satisfaction in which totality embraces us and we embrace totality.” That’s more than a mouthful, but Ghirlandaio manages to capture this moment in his scene of the boy and the old man embracing.

In today’s gospel Jesus confirms this understanding of eternal life. He says that it is to know the one true God and Jesus Christ whom he has sent. By “knowing God,” he does not mean intellectual knowledge of God but intimate union with Him. Jesus adds that he has revealed the name of the Father to his disciples. He means that he has shown them the great “I Am.” This name expresses totality -- what Pope Benedict tells us to look for in eternal life. We anticipate then as our journey through this world ends a loving embrace with Him who encompasses all that is.